The second band I got to shoot for the GoldenPlec’s Plec Picks 2016 was Rusangano Family who hail from Limerick & Shannon, my home. It was the first shoot I had to travel for so being that it was homeward bound that made things easier. I planned it on a weekend of family parties. My familiarity to where would make for a good shoot location in Limerick is narrow these days as a lot has changed since I moved, yet it feels like nothing has changed.

We met up mid-day on the Sunday and ventured over to the Boatclub, the venue of my 30th birthday, to scout for potential places to take some shots. The Shannon river was our backdrop. It was flowing very fast that day, so much so that stepping onto the wooden dock above it felt slightly intimidating. Due to the high winds I opted to just use a small, portable Lumiquest Ltp Softbox on the tripod because the bigger softbox would definitely blow over. It did the job well enough which I was happy about. Some shots the flash didn’t fire and one of these made the cut for the feature.

The guys were getting cold so we decided to try find somewhere indoors to shoot as another set up. We hit upon using a book shop but being Limerick on a Sunday, not many places are open. We tried the biggest store in Limerick but they couldn’t give us permission without the manager being around. It wouldn’t have had an old, second hand, rustic feel to it like what I would want from a book shop portrait shoot so I was happy to move on and see where we landed.

The guys have a song on their upcoming album either called Cecil Street or refers to Cecil Street, where the dole office is located, so we went there and I tried squeezing them into frame with the street sign located high on a house, while trying to avoid the parked cars. I didn’t set up a flash this time and made the use of the natural light since it was not obscuring them this time. We took a few shots of them queueingat the dole office but I felt it was missing something. The building and the photos didn’t exactly make the intention felt properly so I didn’t use them.

We did two more nearby set ups, again without flash. I was happy with the look of these and the guys were again feeling the cold so we retreated to a café to review what we had and make sure we were all happy with the results.

To see more of the photos click on an image and to read the feature click here.

Bagels were the first of two bands I was asked to do a photo shoot with in December for this month's GoldenPlec's Plec Picks features that launch daily for the first sixteen days of the new year. Christmas time is always a difficult time to organise a band photo shoot as everywhere is busy, outside is freezing and/or wet and it makes it stressful on top of trying to iron out dates with everyone in a band.

We settled on a Saturday and met at Stephens Green in the afternoon. I picked the little secluded stony area that looks above part of the green. I got the guys to take some places dotted around and started to take some test shots for the light, the next thing you know it starts raining heavily down upon us. We took shelter under a nearby tree with some other people who were in the area. As we shivered in the cold the guys decided to do what they would do when they busked, take their tops off and cease the moment.

for a laugh we tried a little M.C. Escher style look to a picture, which involved one of the lads laying flat on the wet ground, pretending to walk the wrong way on the steps while the others took up positions elsewhere to walk up or down other sets of steps. It didn't quite work out as we were all freezing and not wanting to stand around idle to perfect it.

I moved to my next plan, ice creams. I wanted to mix the miserable day with the guys all eating ice creams, like you'd want on a Summer's day. We picked a spot where we'd shoot it within the Green but by the time we got them across the road and returned, security was ushering people out. We walked on to Merrion Square and did it in that park, utilizing the playground. This was perfect as the guys, being as young as they are, love to mess around.

We retired to McGrattans pub for a pint, game of pool and to review the shots. All in all, it was a blast to shoot. They enjoyed themselves too which is what I always like to hear.